USASTRATCOM

This blog was created for USASTRATCOM Long Lines Battalion Army personnel who served in Taiwan during the 1965-72 time frame. Specifically, those who lived and worked in and around Taipei are the target. If you worked at the Grass Mountain or Gold Mountain facilities or anywhere in downtown Taipei, we would like to hear from you. All are welcome to visit and contribute to this blog. Your comments and pictures are encouraged.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Following The Tourists

In 1968, there didn't appear to be many tourists coming to Taipei. Not only was a war going on, but Taipei didn't seem to be geared up as a tourist destination.

Then, in 1969, we began to see Mercedes buses making their way up the mountain to the Yangmingshan vicinity. Behind the tinted windows were the faces of tourists.

So, before our time in Taiwan was over, we decided to follow one of the buses around and see what Taipei was offering. Some of the destinations were new to us, some not.

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Here is the description of what we were to see according to our guide book.

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We had seen the National Museum of History from the outside before, but had never gone in.

So, check off museum number one.

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Next door to the National Museum were the botanical gardens. From this address, they were literally adjacent.

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We could have skipped this part, but we had to stay in line with our fellow tourists.

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Neither of us can remember going in here, but the last paragraph on the page above explains why we probably did.

So, now we're in the park area, where we had visited several times before.

We remembered it in our scrapbook as Longevity Park, so one of us had to have been paying attention.

The sky was actually blue that day, but rubber cement from another album page made its way onto this picture.

It was a very relaxing park as these gentlemen demonstrate.

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This is an aerial shot of the museum and Longevity Park today.

It is part of the 228 Peace Park.

This is one of the locomotives described above. My understanding is that it still rests in that park today.

The unofficial bridge-stander surveys the park. Today, this park may be part of 228 Peace Memorial Park, a reference to a dark time in early Taiwanese-ROC relations.

Beneath this picture in our scrapbook, it says "National Library." Nothing can be found to lend any credence to that label.

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This is the same building as the picture just above. When we visited the center in 1969, it was the National Taiwan Science Education Center.

The exhibits outgrew the building's size, and the museum was relocated in 2003. Today, it stands vacant as the fence around it would attest.

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We had been past this museum hundreds of times, but never visited it until we attached ourselves to the tourists.

Long before this, they had caught onto our ploy, but still accepted us as members of their group.

This is how the National Palace Museum looked in 1969. There were no other buildings around it. The entire area was clearly visible from the road.

After this museum, we were ready to hit the road and go home. How many museums can you visit in one day and still keep your sanity?

John,Woops, I made a mistake. Pictures #1, #2, and #3 are the National Museum of History. #14 was the National Taiwan Science Education Center.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:National_Taiwan_Science_Education_Center_Chinese_Roof.jpghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/jlin45d/430082832/